Special Collections
- Special CollectionsBlacksmith of New Portland, Me. The account book documents the day-to-day life of a country blacksmith – noting everything from shoeing horses to repairing organs. Dennis recorded charges and payments for his work, household accounts and expenditures, and the salaries of hired laborers. The inside…
- Special CollectionsLocal historian and genealogist of Newfields, N.H. Fifteen page typescript history of Newfields, N.H. read by Harry K. Torrey at the Newfields town hall in August 1949.
- Special CollectionsHerbalist and doctor of Concord, N.H. Illustrated broadside sent by Dr. O.C. Gage of Concord, N.H. to Alex W. Young. The broadside contains information pertaining to Gage’s practice, examples of his “miraculous” herbal cures and words of comfort to the 'suffering, wearied, anxious and despairing'.
- Special CollectionsThis 50 page journal, primarily covering the years 1843-1844, contains entries on women’s rights and the works of the poet John Keats. In the back are genealogies of Eli Demerit(t) (1696) and Nathaniel Young (1794), suggesting that perhaps the author…
- Special CollectionsProfessor and biologist, retired in Durham, NH 1972. The Jackson Estuarine Laboratory is named for his father, C. Floyd Jackson. The four field notebooks (Nov. 1971-Nov. 1995) concern the operation of the sailboats WAH-WHO I and II in New Hampshire’s…
- Special CollectionsHenry Van Dyke (1852-1933) was a clergyman, Princeton University professor of English literature, and sports writer. Four (4) letters from angling author Henry Van Dyke to Eugene V. Connett, sports writer and founder of the Derrydale Press. The letters primarily concern Van Dyke’s commitments to…
- Special CollectionsThe Reverend Alvan Tobey was born in Wilmington, VT on April 1, 1808 and graduated from Amherst College in 1828 and at Andover Seminary in 1831. He succeeded the Rev. Robert Page at the Congregational Church in Durham, NH and began preaching there on…
- Special CollectionsIllustrator and author of children’s books; her home in Mason, N.H. served as a model for many of her illistrations. Two letters written by Elizabeth Orton Jones with negatives and preliminary sketches for a 1957 painting commissioned by U.N.H. in honor of Charlotte Thompson. The letters, one to…
- Special CollectionsEpsom is a New Hampshire town in Merrimack County. 1860 Epsom, N.H. tax list that documents the various amounts paid by non-resident land owners for Epsom’s annual tax assessment.
- Special CollectionsNew Hampshire town Bristol, New Hampshire post office directory listing names of residents presumably renting post office boxes.
- Special CollectionsAgent for the Boston and Maine Railroad at Pike Station, Alton, New Hampshire. The letter press books track John L. Davis’s correspondence from December 1899 to August of 1907. In 1901, he and his wife moved from Haverhill, New Hampshire to Alton, New Hampshire and he began work as the Alton…
- Special CollectionsEdwin Terry was a peddler from Granby, Conn. He was born in Harford 22 Oct. 1832, married Maryette Allen in June 1856, and died 6 Aug. 1893 in Springfield MA. His parents were Harmon Terry and Emeline Ellis. Account book kept by Edwin Terry between 1841 and 1878. Terry frequently travelled to New…
- Special CollectionsNative of Acworth N.H. born in 1815, son of Eliphalet Bailey, Universalist minister of Belfast, Me. Letter written on June 12, 1869 by Giles Bailey to C.R. Williams. Bailey states that his address presented for the centennial of Acworth was printed and made available in J.L. Merrill’s History of…
- Special CollectionsMining engineer, a summer resident of Durham, N.H., and benefactor of U.N.H. Copies of Hamilton Smith’s business correspondence. Many of the letters pertain to Smith’s numerous investments, which included mining operations in California, Alaska, South Africa, and South America, and the Central…
- Special CollectionsGrafton is a New Hampshire town in Grafton County. A list that documents the taxes owed to the town of Grafton, N.H. by non-resident land owners for the year 1816.
- Special CollectionsLabor Union of Concord New Hampshire and vicinities in Merrimack County. This group first organized in November 1891 to represent granite cutters, quarrymen, painters, printers, barbers, carpenters, cigar makers, tool sharpeners, plumbers, boot and shoe…
- Special CollectionsHarvard University graduate (1697) and Congregationalist minister. Manuscript sermon preached by Reverend Hugh Adams to the Congregationalist church in Durham, N.H. on Oct. 21, 1739.
- Special CollectionsNew Hampshire author who wrote Let Me Show You New Hampshire. A 9 page typescript of The Witch's Cavern, a story about three children who explore a dangerous cave.
- Special CollectionsGraduate of Yale (1785), member of Congress from 1805 to 1819, and political historian. One page letter in which Pitman informs Governor John Treadwell of Connecticut that he accepts his seat in the 12th Congress of the United States.
- Special CollectionsLetter written by “Willie,” a student at Northwood Academy in Northwood, N.H., to his parents. In the letter, Willie thanks his parents for various items they had sent to him in a package, asks about the family, and remembers life at home.
- Special CollectionsArtist unknown A survey of 114 bird species taken for the year 1911, primarily in the Middletown, Connecticut area, but also including Tilton, New Hampshire and a few places in between. Records temperature and wind direction and a few other details. Also records the dates when first and last seen…
- Special CollectionsHarlan Fiske Stone, lawyer, professor, Attorney General of the United States, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was born in Chesterfield, NH in 1872. He was admitted to the bar in 1898, taught law at Columbia University, and later served as Dean of the University’s School of Law from 1910 to…
- Special CollectionsD. W. Allen was a Dover, New Hampshire dentist. 1842 broadside advertising the visit of Dover, N.H.-based dentist D.W. Allen to Wentworth, N.H. in 1842. The broadside describes services offered by Dr. Allen, as well as providing the prices for some of his more routine operations.
- Special CollectionsAlthough the specific creator of this scrapbook is not known, individuals whose work appears in it include Nathaniael Appleton Haven (1790-1826) and Oliver William Bourn Peabody (1799-1848). Scrapbook pertaining to exercises held in Portsmouth, NH on May 21, 1823, “the two hundredth anniversary of…
- Special CollectionsThomas Bailey Aldrich was a New Hampshire-born author, poet and editor. His most noteable works are The Story of a Bad Boy and An Old Town By The Sea. Four letters written by Thomas Bailey Aldrich to his good friend and his wife’s obstetrician, Dr…
- Special CollectionsLevi Woodbury (1789-1851) was born in Francestown, NH. He was was Secretary of the U.S. Treasury 1834-1841. His political career included: Governor of NH 1823-24, Speaker of the NH House of Representatives 1825, U.S. Senator 1825-31, U.S. Secretary of Navy 1831-34, Secretary of the U.S. Treasury…
- Special CollectionsAn unidentified artist. Two notebooks of sketches done in pencil by an unidentified artist. The sketches, some of which are identified, primarily detail scenes in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
- Special CollectionsEpiscopal Bishop of New Hampshire, 1926-1948. Scrapbook kept by John Thomson Dallas during his trip to Japan May 27 to June 20, 1936. It documents Bishop Dallas’s travels and activities in Japan and includes photographs, postcards, telegrams, and letters, as well as programs from events staged in…
- Special CollectionsEight page typed pamphlet and original minutes documenting the proceedings of the New Hampshire Christian Conference held at Durham, May 25, 1832. Also included is an 1839 resolution of the Conference to establish “an Academy of a strictly literary character” in Durham.
- Special CollectionsHenry Wilson, author, United States Senator and Vice-President was born in Farmington, NH in 1812. In 1855 he was elected to the United States Senate, and in 1872 he was nominated for Vice-President on the Republican ticket – a position he held until his death in 1875. Wilson devoted his career to…
- Special CollectionsBenjamin Abbot (1762-1849) headmaster of Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter, N.H.) Three page letter written by Benjamin Abbot to his brother, the Reverend Abiel Abbot. In the letter Benjamin Abbot disagrees with his brother’s opposition to capital punishment.
- Special CollectionsExeter is one of the earliest towns in Rockingham County, NH. Two Exeter, NH deeds, one of which details land sold by the Trustees of Phillips Exeter Academy to Jedidiah Lakeman (1792), while the other documents property sold by Samuel Rust to James Rundlett (1796).
- Special CollectionsIda C. Humphrey was born in Dec. 1854. She did not marry or have children. Four page letter written by Ida C. Humphrey from Camp Diamond, Diamond Ponds, Stewartstown, NH to Addie W. Paul of Newfield, N.H. The letter describes Humphrey’s stay at Camp Diamond, including her accommodations and…
- Special CollectionsWilliam Abbot was born in 1773. He was a Harvard University graduate (1797) and attorney-at-law in Castine and Bangor, Me. A three page letter written by William Abbot to his cousin, Abiel Abbot. The letter is primarily a biography of William A. Abbot (1748-1793) of Wilton, N.H., member of the N.H…
- Special CollectionsFrederick Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966), the son of Stephen Parrish, was born in 1870 and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts from 1892-1894. In 1898, he purchased “The Oaks”, an estate in Plainfield, NH and became a member of the flourishing artist community in nearby Cornish, N.H.…
- Special CollectionsJohn W. Dudley was born 7 April 1841 in Flemming, Kentucky, and died 9 Oct. 1921 in the same place. His parents were John Dudley (Sr.) and Adalin Ringo. Four letters from Dr. J.W. Dudley to his mother that span a three-week period, June 3-24, 1906. The letters describe Dudley’s convalescence from…
- Special CollectionsHerbert David Croly, 1869-1930, founder and editor of the "New Republic". Five letters written by Herbert Croly to Charlotte Rudyard. The letters are personal in nature, and in them Croly frequently mentions affairs at the New Republic. There is also a postcard from Louise Croly to Rudyard, as well…
- Special CollectionsAnnie Adams Fields, author and wife of James T. Fields, was born in Boston, MA in 1834. She traveled extensively with her husband and formed intimate friendships with some of America’s most well-known 19th century writers and intellectuals. She died in 1915, having outlived many of her…
- Special CollectionsJessie Evens lived from 1867-1937. “Birthday Ode” written by Jessie Evans to celebrate the one hundredth birthday of Sister Myra Green of Canterbury Shaker Village on March 9, 1935. Words without music to tune of "Auld Lang Syne”.
- Special CollectionsDaniel Webster (1782-1852) was an American lawyer who served in the governments of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Speech of the Hon. Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, at the dinner given to him by the merchants and other citizens of Philadelphia, December 2, 1846. Published in 1847 in Washington…
- Special CollectionsJames T. Fields (1817-1881), author, poet, and publisher, was born in Portsmouth, NH in 1817. At the age of fourteen, he became a clerk in a bookstore in Boston, MA and later a partner in the publishing house of Ticknor and Fields. He edited the Atlantic Monthly, which was published by his firm,…
- Special CollectionsAuthor and literary critic. Known for the Christmas story Christmas Every Day. Letter written by William Dean Howells that thanks Dr. Perkins for sending medicine and asks him to send more. Photograph included.
- Special CollectionsW.S. Braithwaite (1878-1962) was a writer, poet and literary critic. From 1906 to 1931 he contributed to The Boston Evening Transcript, eventually becoming its literary editor. He also wrote articles, reviews and poetry for many other periodicals and journals, including Atlantic Monthly, the New…
- Special CollectionsBenjamin Penhallow Shillaber, humorist, newspaperman, and poet, was born in Portsmouth, NH in 1814. He moved to Boston, MA in 1833, where he became a journeyman printer. He worked as a printer and editor of several papers, including the Carpet Bag, a…
- Special CollectionsMartin Snow, Civil War sailor, was born in Boston, Mass. in 1839 and died in Blair, Neb. in 1891. He married Caroline Augusta Barker in 1860 and was buried in Pittsfield, N.H., where he once lived and where his daughter, Lena Snow Sargent, resided. Contains a 92-page diary kept by Martin Snow from…
- Special CollectionsAmy Lowell (1874-1925) was a poet, biographer, and essayist who owned a summer home in Dublin, N.H. near the MacDowell Artist's Colony. One page letter (1917) written by Amy Lowell to poet and editor, William Stanley Braithwaite. Lowell describes her lecturing and speaking engagements in N.Y. City…
- Special CollectionsSarah Josepha Buell Hale, author and editor, was born in Newport, N.H. in 1788. She married in 1813, and when her husband died suddenly in 1822, she began writing to make a living. Her stories and poems attracted a large audience, and in 1828 she…
- Special CollectionsThe creator of this register is anonymous. A register from an unidentified Portsmouth, N.H.-based shipping company which serviced both the Appledore and Oceanic Hotels on the Isles of Shoals. The register, which covers from July 2 to September 3, 1912, documents the movement of people and cargo…
- Special CollectionsDaniel Hood (1792-16 October 1866) was a retired sea captain from Portland, Maine. He married Susanna Peasly Sargent. Two letters written by Daniel Hood to Reverend Jacob Hood of Nottingham, N.H., providing the latter with knowledge of the Hood family’s history. The remarks include not only…
- Special CollectionsJoseph Rowlandson was born in England in or around 1631. He served as a Congregational minister, living for a time in both Lancaster and Ipswich, MA, before finally settling in Wethersfield, CT. He was the husband of Mary Rowlandson, whose Indian captivitity narrative made her a famous figure in…
